Hi all, The annual tradition with XIMB to help XAT takers continues. XAT 2011 draws nearer and many puys must have a lot of questions they could seek informed answers to. To help you with some last minute advice on cracking the XAT 2011,…
Hi all,
The annual tradition with XIMB to help XAT takers continues. XAT 2011 draws nearer and many puys must have a lot of questions they could seek informed answers to.
To help you with some last minute advice on cracking the XAT 2011, we have on board several students from Xavier's Institute of Management, Bhubhaneswar (XIMB), who scored 99+ percentile in last year's XAT and will now answer your questions and suggest how to remove your roadblocks in your preparation.
You could ask them...
- how each section should be tackled
- how XAT is different from CAT or SNAP or IIFT or FMS
- what strategy should be followed in the exam
- what works in the essays section
What you CANNOT ask here...
- XIMB-related questions. This thread is for XAT and XAT only.
- Questions that have already been asked by others. Please go through the entire thread and its pages to see if your question has already been asked and answered. Please do not bore people by asking the same thing again and again.
So shoot away with your questions for the XAT exam and make use of XIMB's 99 percentilers presence on the forum to strengthen your preparation.
All the best to everyone! 
Cheers,
thanks apurv sir...for starting this.... i just have one or two queries...
1. pls guide me for the quant section,,,u see i am soo highly and extremely intelligent in cracking quant that i can almost leave the entire section without even looking at it..:lookround:. so what all areas should i focus to crack this
2. a rough idea as to how much my sectional attempts should be in order to get calls from both courses at XL
bas abhi ke liye itna hi... thanks a lot....
Hi Apurv,
I guess Doc will come out with a Ready Reckoner for XAT soon, but it would be really great if you could post your own comments and thoughts on how to approach XAT, vis a vis CAT or FMS.
What should be the ideal time allocation strategy? How to study for the Decision Making section? How important are verbal skills? What are the cut-offs for XLRI? How different is the QA and LDI from CAT or FMS? Which areas does the VA section focus on - vocab, RCs, or sentence corrections/grammar?
Answers to questions like these would be really helpful to all
Hi All,
Some Basics about XAT before you start pitching your doubts.
Format of XAT-2010:
XAT 2010 had 101 questions in total,and was easily the toughest paper of the exam season. The paper had three sections viz. Verbal & Logical Ability (31 Questions), Analytical Reasoning & Decision Making (30 Questions) and Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability (40 Questions).
The negative marking was 20% for the first 5 incorrect answers in every section and 25% thereafter for every subsequent incorrect answer.
How is XAT different from CAT?
In past few years, XAT had more number of questions than CAT with lesser time and higher level of difficulty. Hence proper scanning of the paper with optimum speed and very high accuracy is required to crack XAT.
Essay Writing in XAT:
A short essay is also a part of XAT exam. The duration of the essay is 20 mins. Topic of the essay for XAT-2010 was "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."
The only suggestion is that out of the allotted 20 minutes, spend at least 5 minutes to recall, plan and organize what you intend to write. Use remaining 15 minutes to write 100-150 words in a cogent and coherent manner using grammatically correct English. Avoid flowery, bombastic language. Be concise.
Tips to crack XAT-2011:
Be very cool during the preparation as well as the exam. The last month preparation can be very vital, hence pull up your socks and prepare by solving good quality questions and revising all the basic concepts.
ALL THE BEST TO ALL OF YOU. LET US TOGETHER CRACK XAT-2011 
My queries are :
1) Most important sections for BM as well as PMIR in terms of percentile required .
2)Any specific source for preparation of analytical reasoning and decision making ??
3)Significance of overall percentile for XL ( or you are through by scoring the cutoffs in each ?? )
thnx
thanks apurv sir...for starting this.... i just have one or two queries...
1. pls guide me for the quant section,,,u see i am soo highly and extremely intelligent in cracking quant that i can almost leave the entire section without even looking at it..:lookround:. so what all areas should i focus to crack this
2. a rough idea as to how much my sectional attempts should be in order to get calls from both courses at XL
bas abhi ke liye itna hi... thanks a lot....
traditionally it has been around 30-35% right answers taking you through the cut offs. from my personal experience, in XAT 2009 we had about 104 questions and answering about 33-34 questions right got me through with >90 percentiles in individual sections and through the overall cutoff
for quants, see the previous xat papers and identify your strong areas and work on them.
My queries are :
1) Most important sections for BM as well as PMIR in terms of percentile required .
2)Any specific source for preparation of analytical reasoning and decision making ??
3)Significance of overall percentile for XL ( or you are through by scoring the cutoffs in each ?? )
thnx
1. All the three sections equally important. Percentile variations occur based on the relative scores of other aspirants and not based on the importance of the section for the course.
2. No specific source. Go through all the previous papers. Otherwise, go with any material of any coaching institute.
3. Overall percentile is as important as individual sections. you have to cross the overall percentile too. it may so happen that you ll get through all the sections but may not get through overall, and in that case, you wont get a call.
What about the verbal section, sir?
vocab should be strong...agreed, but what else to go for?
Please enlighten on the XAT verbal pattern...
hi friends!!! first of all thank you so much for starting this thread..... i want to ask you that the same ques everyone is asking... how to prepare?? from where to prepare?? i had taken to career launcher. is the material good enough to prepare or not?
has xat has sectional cutoff as other xams..how much from each section attempt makes us safe..
how to tackle decision making section... i gave aimxat found myself totally dogged in that section..pls help me out...
thnxz
shashank143 Sayshi friends!!! first of all thank you so much for starting this thread..... i want to ask you that the same ques everyone is asking... how to prepare?? from where to prepare?? i had taken to career launcher. is the material good enough to prepare or not?
am not sure about career launcher. i had taken training from IMS and they give XAT specific material after CAT is over. try to get hold of that. they update the material every year based on last years paper. might be useful.
Thanks Apurv and XIMB seniors for the efforts!
I need to ask a specific question related to XAT :
I have noticed certain case study questions where a decision has to be made as a manager (XAT 2009, dont remember for 2010). What is the priority order in which we need to take care of the aspects. For eg. Is an ethical decision the first and foremost priority or is that the crisis should be solved first, somehow compromising on the ethicalness?
has xat has sectional cutoff as other xams..how much from each section attempt makes us safe..
how to tackle decision making section... i gave aimxat found myself totally dogged in that section..pls help me out...
thnxz
attempts by no means gives a measure of your score. if you meant correct attempts, where you are absolutely sure of your answers, then 30-35% questions in each section should get you through safely. This has been the traditional norm, but not necessary that it will repeat this year too. give your best.
in decision making, one tip that might save you a lot of time is that, as soon as you read a caselet, decide whether you want to do it or not. if not, dont waste time on it. and even mid way through a caselet, if you feel its taking too much time, then skip it. dont waste too much time on a single caselet.
Please throw some light on approximately how long the essay should be and what kind of structure should the essay be in...
will there be a break between the exam and the essay?
What about the verbal section, sir?
vocab should be strong...agreed, but what else to go for?
Please enlighten on the XAT verbal pattern...
XAT generally does not have essays which are too long, but would be content heavy. practice comprehensions which are content heavy and a little complex. should help you.
Thanks Apurv and XIMB seniors for the efforts!
I need to ask a specific question related to XAT :
I have noticed certain case study questions where a decision has to be made as a manager (XAT 2009, dont remember for 2010). What is the priority order in which we need to take care of the aspects. For eg. Is an ethical decision the first and foremost priority or is that the crisis should be solved first, somehow compromising on the ethicalness?
Generally, such questions would not be there in XAT as the answer is subjective and the opinion may vary from person to person. Even if you feel some subjectivity is there in the question, read again. There will be some logical reason underneath.
Would you suggest any book or site ,which can provide good material for Analytical reasoning and decision making ? (apart from class material)
I m a test series student, so i m not sure if TIME provides any specific material for XAT AR/DM.
moderators plz remove this post!
i heard dat essay is not compulsory is it true????
I have written mock XAT and was able to get sectionals clear but not overall 
So how to Clear overall cut offs in (QA i can solve up to 7-8 qs assuming last year difficulty level).
For preparation Is it Sufficient if i solve
1)Previous years XAT papers
2)Mock XAT 4-5
Thanks in advance